I knew this, because Wulf wrote this 1981 article about the contest — an article that was a key component of my research — in which he plainly stated, “[Y]ours truly was one of the judges.”

So why didn’t I get around to interviewing him for my column? I don’t really have a good answer for that — like I said, I fucked up. And believe me, I hate fucking up. But hey, better late than never, so I recently asked Wulf if he’d consent to a follow-up interview. And instead of just reading one or two sentences of what he had to say (which is almost certainly what his presence in the column would have been reduced to), now you get to see the whole transcript, whoop-whoop:

Uni Watch: How did you get selected to be on the judging panel for the White Sox contest? Were you even based in Chicago at the time?

Steve Wulf: No. Honestly, I don’t remember”¦

UW: Maybe they just asked SI to provide a writer?

SW: Yeah, maybe. They probably contacted SI and I was one of the magazine’s baseball writers at the time.

UW: So you went out there and you were in a room with a bunch of other people?

SW: Right. And I do remember Lamar [Johnson, Chisox first baseman, who was also on the judging panel] and his wife. And I think the other sportswriter [on the panel] was the sports editor or assistant sports editor from the Chicago Tribune. I think we were all sort of giving condolences to Lamar, because no matter what we chose, his teammates were gonna blame him.

UW: And there were also two fashion editors and local TV types, right?

SW: Right.

UW: So did they sit you down at a big table or what?

SW: It was at the Diamond Club. And it was a fairly big table. And we passed around all these designs. They had two design categories for the submissions — professional and amateur. And the professional ones were hideous. They were absolutely the worst ones. There was one guy — I think it was Alexander Julian”¦

UW: Oh, he went on to design the first uniforms for the Charlotte Hornets! That whole purple and teal trend in the 1990s started with him. I’m pretty sure he was the first regular clothing designer to design a pro sports uniform. But I didn’t know he had submitted something for the White Sox contest.

SW: I’m not sure it was him. But there was some big designer, somebody prominent, and his design was awful. And I remember there was one sort of quilted uniform — totally space-age. It looked like, you know, like a mattress.

UW: Wow. Did they submit an actual sample for that one, or just a drawing?

SW: Just a drawing. And the drawings themselves were very professional, but the designs were completely non-utilitarian and inappropriate. So we went to the amateur drawings, and [Richad Launius’s design] was clearly the winner, because it was the only one that made any kind of sense. [Although Launius was a professional graphic designer, he was considered an amateur for the purposes of this contest, because he wasn’t a clothing or fashion designer. ”” PL]

UW: How did you go through over 1500 entries in a single afternoon?

SW: I don’t think we looked at that many.

UW: But your own story for SI said that’s how many submissions there were.

SW: Yeah, but I think they had winnowed them down.

UW: So you’re saying there had already been an initial judging, before your panel was convened.

SW: Probably. I don’t remember seeing 1500 designs. Again, I wish I had a better memory of it.

UW: You guys narrowed it down to six finalists. But you said a minute ago that Launius’s design, which eventually won, was clearly the best. Was that just your feeling, or was that the consensus in the room?

SW: I think that was the consensus.

UW: At any point did you think, “Oh god, what have I done?”

SW: No. In fact, when the uniform finally came out, I bought, like, six of the hats.

UW: Because you liked it, or because you had a hand in choosing it?

SW: Because I had a hand in it.

UW: So you wanted a souvenir of your experience.

SW: Right. And what was it, about 10 years ago the reissued the jersey as a throwback, and it became a total urban hip-hop thing”¦

UW: And did you get a jersey for yourself?

SW: No, because it was too expensive. But I did get another one of the hat.

UW: So you still feel a little connection to that design.

SW: I do. But, I mean, I had a small hand in forming the Rotisserie League — I had an even smaller hand in this White Sox uniform.

UW: You know, nowadays there’s a lot of media chatter about whether it’s appropriate for writers to be voting for the Hall of Fame, or for postseason awards, because it could be a conflict of interest. The New York Times doesn’t let its writers vote for MVP or Cy Young. But this is something where you had a fairly direct effect on an aspect of the team that people see every day.

SW: I don’t think we had any discussion at Sports Illustrated about whether this was ethical or unethical. It was all for the story; it made it a better story.

UW: I wasn’t suggesting otherwise. I just think it’s another example of how times have changed. Hey, here’s something: Richard Launius told me that someone told him that Greg Luzinski’s wife was on the judging panel, and that she was very concerned that the original winning design directed too much attention to the stomach area of the jersey, which could have been a problem because of Luzinski’s physique. Do you recall anything like that?

SW: No, there was nothing like that.

UW: What was the whole mood like? I mean, was it fun, or was it serious..?

SW: It was fairly light. Like, “Okay, so I guess this is the best we have.” It wasn’t exactly 12 Angry Men. More like 12 Disappointed Men.
————
Before we wrapped up, incidentally, Wulf made it clear that he’s a big fan of another site I run, so he’s clearly a man of impeccable tastes, and is therefore as well-suited to sit on a judging panel today as he was back in 1981.

+ + + + +

Just in time for Passover: Illustrator/designer Gary Cieradkowski — the guy behind the excellent Infinite Baseball Card Set — has just launched new baseball publication, called 21: The Illustrated Journal of Outsider Baseball. Gary sent me a copy of the first issue, which is devoted to Jewish Baseball Pioneers, and I’m happy to report that it’s a gorgeous piece of work, full of informative writing and beautiful visuals, and obviously a labor of love. Further info and ordering instrux here.

Beefsteak reminder: Major meat-fest tomorrow night at Sheep Station. Further info on the venue here, and tickets are available here.

Spring cleaning reminder: I still have a bit of inventory remaining from my last box of shirts featuring the logo of a certain team and a certain protein-based foodstuff. If you’re interested, speak up.

Membership update: Over a dozen new designs have been added to the membership card gallery (including Chris Cruz’s Bob Toledo-era UCLA treatment, shown at right). The printed and laminated versions of those cards will mail out later this week. As always, you can finally make good on your New Year’s resolution to make the membership scene by signing up here.

+ + + + +

Uni Watch News Ticker: A Yonkers woman is suing the Yanks because she says they stole their top-hat logo from her uncle (with thanks to Marc Malfara). ”¦ “I’m a season seat holder for the Edmonton Oil Kings, and I just received an invitation to fill out an online survey,” says Donnie Gould. “They asked what I thought about the logo and jerseys (which I like). I wonder how many other teams ever ask this type of question on a survey.” ”¦ New uniforms for the Louisville Bats (with thanks to Josh Neisler). ”¦ Here’s another repurposing of the 1970s Pirates logo, this time for a Pittsburgh bike shop (big thanks to Terry Haines). ”¦ Interesting NHL playoff note from Donnie Gould, who writes: “I’m having an issue with the white-outs that are happening. I know this has been a tradition for many teams for a number of years, but it makes it look like the home fans are cheering for the away team. Back when the NHL teams still used white as their home jersey it made sense, but now it looks awful. If a team is going to have a white-out with their fans, the team should wear white as well.” One possible solution: The fans could dress like normal people instead of wearing $200 polyester shirts. ”¦ Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Let’s hope this helmet style doesn’t catch on. ”¦ Bayern Munich has extended its deal with Adidas (with thanks to Kenny Loo). ”¦ Paul Bielewicz was recently up at Cooperstown and got some worthwhile shots. First, here’s a good close-up of Hank Aaron’s record-breaking cleats, which makes it clear that they were indeed Adidas (which we pretty much knew already, but it’s good to see the little wordmark) and also indicates that they were worn for homers 714 and 715 (although I wouldn’t take that as gospel — just because Hank, or whoever, scribbled it on the sole doesn’t make it true). And second, notice anything odd about Joe Torre’s 1998 World Series jersey? That’s a Russell Athletic logo peeking out from under the WS patch — very fishy, since the Yanks don’t have logo creep on their jerseys. I haven’t been able to find any photos of Torre’s right sleeve from the ’98 Fall Classic, but I did look at a lot of photos of Yanks players from that Series, and none of them had the Russell sleeve logo. Hmmmmm. ”¦ Earth Day patch for the Chicago Fire (with thanks to Jeff Wilk). ”¦ Here’s a very good article about NHL uni numbers (big thanks to Tim Tryjankowski). ”¦ Reese Pearson sent along a fascinating piece about fire station logos in Lincoln, Nebraska. ”¦ Remember how the Orioles tweaked their logo a few years ago? Andrew Cosentino has noticed that the old logo is still being used all around the exterior gates of Camden Yards. “The only gate where I found the new logo is at the Eutaw Street entrance,” he says. ”¦ Jason Halpin notes that D.C. United’s Charlie Davies appears to be wearing a TechFit jersey. “Looks like Joseph Ngwenya has been wearing it too,” he says. “As has been mentioned on the blog before, the Seattle Sounders kit for 2011 is a TechFit kit, and all the players are wearing it. Interesting that the United players can apparently choose which style of jersey they wear.” ”¦ The Dodgers will play the first of their Thursday-afternoon throwback games tomorrow, and they’ve now announced that the opposing teams for these games will be throwback-attired as well. Love how they went with the retro-style Brooklyn letterhead, complete with postal zone instead of zip code. ”¦ BFBS note from Kenn Tomasch, who says, “I hate this shit. The white nurse’s outfit was bad enough” (cue joke about how there’s nothing wrong with a white nurse here). ”¦ When the Sabres and other NHL teams started wearing uni numbers on the upper-chest area, that was a new thing, right? Wrong. That’s Vic Stasiuk of the 1964-65 AHL Pittsburgh Hornets. “That crest if pretty sharp, too,” says Terry Proctor. ”¦ If you’re from western Massachusetts, then you know that ice cream trucks in that region are commonly referred to as Ding Dong Carts. Which means you may be interested in this baseball uniform. ”¦ Jeff Scott‘s fine Birdbats site reports that the Majestic botched the placket alignment for the jerseys that the Cardinals wore during spring training (the Cards, you’ll recall, wear regular gamers, not BP jerseys, for Grapefruit League games). According to Jeff, the Cards opted to return these jerseys to Majestic rather than sell them at the team’s Authentics Store. ”¦ Yesterday I mentioned that Boise State was wearing merit decals for their spring game. The explanation comes at the bottom of this article (with thanks to Wade Spain). ”¦ Speaking of Boise State, their blue field is an unfair advantage — or at least that’s what SDSU’s coach thinks (with thanks to Chris Flinn). ”¦ I knew there were ash bats and maple bats, but Scott Hairston of the Mets is using a birch bat, according to a report during last night’s Mets game. He apparently picked up the habit after borrowing a birch bat from Matt Stairs when they were both playing for the Padres last year. ”¦ Still more about those TV-numbered Nike undershirts that Todd Helton and Ian Stewart were wearing on Sunday: a Rockies beat writer had posted this before the game. So maybe that’s what we were seeing, although the shirts obviously looked black, not gray (with thanks to Jeff Knepper). ”¦ Not sure how legit these are, but the word through the grapevine is that these are Oklahoma State’s new football uniforms. Not as Oregon-damaged as everyone had predicted, eh? ”¦ Remember how I said Auburn’s football pants would be getting (a) a tramp-stamp wordmark and (b) revised striping to match the sleeve striping? Some new video game images show the former but not the latter (with thanks to Damon Kaley). ”¦ Mark Rzepczynski’s surname is a mouthful, especially when rendered in Toronto’s extra-clunky NOB font. Ugh, they really botched that “R” (screen shot courtesy of Daniel Kisslinger). ”¦ Andy Garms dug out his old early-’80s high school baseball jersey from John Hersey High in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and it’s a doozy. ”¦ Mets lost another fucking game wore blue caps/sleeves at Shea again last night, extending their unbroken string of actually wearing their home uniform at home this season. Remains unclear why now-deposed equipment manager Charlie “Hey, kid, wanna buy an autographed shin guard?” Samuels couldn’t master this simple concept. ”¦ “My buddy found this Giants 2010 Wild Card shirt at his local Ross the other day in the Bay Area,” writes Dave Tobener. “As you know, the Giants won the division in 2010, and not the wild Card. I’ve seen phantom shirts before, but never one in a retail store.” ”¦ James Welham reports that the German soccer team VfL Wolfsburg will have a picture of a wolf on their kits next season. ”¦ Eighteen-year-old Jake Hock wasn’t content with just wearing a Blackhawks jersey for the playoffs, so he DIY’d the rest of the uniform for himself. “Yes, that’s electrical tape on the socks and shorts,” he says.

146 comments to A Wulf in a Sheep’s Beach Blanket, or Something…

Along with the repurposed Pirates logo, there’s a band out of Houston called the Space City Aces whose logos and merch were copies of Houston sports teams’ gear from the ’70s and ’80s. The band may be defunct now, since I can’t find their website anywhere.

Also, my first real blog post is up. The posts for the next week are going to be pretty light, since I have exams from today until next Wednesday.

Glad to see someone found my GOAL article on NHL uni numbers from 4 years ago; I didn’t think after the initial uni-watch posting that anyone would ever find it again! (I still love reading that article, even if it’s from 1987.)

JRD|
April 20, 2011 at 8:28 pm |

That is a great article.

But there is an inaccuracy. It said Rick Dudley wore #99 for the Cincinnati Stingers.

They’ve had 3 birds since then, a new HD scoreboard installed, renovated practically the entire inner seating bowl, and get somewhere near $40 million a year guaranteed in MASN money while having a very manageable payroll…I think they could have fixed the weather vanes at some point if they wanted to.

However, I actually like them that way…that is my favorite version of the new birds.

Seth F|
April 20, 2011 at 8:14 am |

So I thought the Braves were only supposed to wear the STUPID navy alts on Thursday road games!! Then why were they wearing the friggin’ things last night in LA. Please, someone tell me that it wasn’t because they’re wearing throwbacks on Thursday and they have to meet their roadtrip quota of stupidity. I love the Braves, but part of me wishes they’d lose every game when they wear those things, similar to the Mets and their blue at home. Sorry Paul. At least in your case, they are looking good while losing, right?

LI Phil|
April 20, 2011 at 8:30 am |

I love the Braves, but part of me wishes they’d lose every game when they wear those things, similar to the Mets and their blue at home.

I think he means that the Mets ARE losing every game when they wear blue at home — not that they SHOULD lose.

LI Phil|
April 20, 2011 at 8:47 am |

yeh…after i re-read that i see where he’s going; but i’ll take 81 losses in blue caps/sleeves/socks at home than wins in black

and i don’t mind the braves solid blue cap, but it should ONLY be worn with the blue alt, which means it should never be worn

/need caffeine

RS Rogers|
April 20, 2011 at 8:48 am |

The Mets’ blue softball tops may not be evil, like the black softball tops, but they’re still stupid. Alts work best for teams that don’t look that good to begin with. The Mets have some of the best regular home unis in baseball, so the smock look will always be a step down for them.

From one Braves fan to another, I completely agree. I hate, HATE the blue road alternates. They are awful and look like something a high school team would wear. I DO hope they wear their Boston throwbacks on Thursday, like was suggested yesterday.

Oh, and that “Brooklyn” letterhead linked in the Ticker? Freakin’ awesome.

It is awesome. Wouldn’t it have been cool if they’d played with the old-school look for the phone number too? Like if they’d listed the area code as EBbets-3? I know the alpha system was for exchanges, but it just fits so perfectly there.

Ain’t no way, no how Aaron hit 714 and 715 in that one pair of shoes. Ain’t no way, no how anybody is “cleaning the black polish off the stripes” and having them be so pristene. I’m not calling shenanigans on anyone, but I do feel that someone was mistaken when the cleats were presented (probabaly not Hank).

Chris|
April 20, 2011 at 8:29 am |

In the initial picture shown in the Lincoln fire house story (the one of the gorilla), the center logo is that of the Pittsburg (KS) State University Gorillas. To my knowledge, it is the only collegiate use of the gorilla mascot in the nation.

Whoa! That A’s yarmulke is awesome (and I’m not even Jewish)! Any Hebrew scholars out there know what it says under the A’s logo? I know it’s a pretty small image; is it legible?
I remember going to bar and bat mitzvahs growing up and always thinking the yarmulke tradition is pretty neat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarmulke

While I understand that not everyone that goes to Notre Dame is catholic, I do find it amusing that a Jew would wear the logo of the flagship university of catholics on his head. Only in America.

JTH|
April 20, 2011 at 1:56 pm |

Notre Dame is the flagship university of Catholics?

There are probably at least a dozen institutions in Rome alone that would take issue with that assertion.

Craig D|
April 20, 2011 at 2:09 pm |

Make that “American flagship” I don’t need the Vatican roughing me up. When people on this side of the pond hear “Catholic University” they think Notre Dame. That’s my western bias showing.

Anthony B.|
April 20, 2011 at 8:39 am |

While watching E60 on ESPN last night, they were profiling Carl Crawford. He got to go inside the Green Monster and see all of the signatures of players from the past (something I personally wasn’t aware of–was this common knowledge?). I noticed that one player had put a version of the Pittsburgh Steelers logo up there. I don’t have a screenshot (sorry) but I just thought it was pretty interesting.

Rob S|
April 20, 2011 at 8:39 am |

Another $200 poly shirt blast across the bow, Paul?

Besides, at least in Phoenix, the white-outs are being generated in good part by free T-shirts. Hardly worth $200 a pop, especially for a team that’s bleeding as much as it is (and quite possibly on the verge of returning to Winnipeg). Plus, you know the Wings fans down there are going to subvert that trope – it’d be interesting to count how many red sleeves are in the crowd tonight.

On the plus side, I remember the Flyers a couple of years ago doing free T-shirt giveaways… to fill their arena with orange. So, as much as I detest the Flyers, the organization “got it” at least once…

(Now, if they’d just do something about their doofy-looking contrasting nameplates…)

i just heard a figure that it cost about $50,000 for a sponsor to offer fans free shirts for a game. the pens started selling an official “white out” shirt this season.

also, people need to quit making a big deal out of the whole “fans wear white, team wears dark” thought. it’s tradition, pretty sure nobodys gonna be confused. if anything blame bettman or reebok for making temas wear dark at home. i HATE dark at home! so bland

Rob S|
April 20, 2011 at 10:00 am |

The University of Michigan has often done the “Go Blue, Wear Maize” campaign. I first noticed it when I attended a hockey game at Yost a few years back. But, they weren’t giving out free T-shirts to the crowd that evening.

Rob S|
April 20, 2011 at 10:02 am |

Oh, and I do prefer white at home. Of course, this may have something to do with a certain red-sleeved jersey being my all-time favorite hockey uni….

LI Phil|
April 20, 2011 at 10:11 am |

i just heard a figure that it cost about $50,000 for a sponsor to offer fans free shirts for a game.

~~~

so, like freedom, t-shirts aren’t free

ClubMedSux|
April 20, 2011 at 10:25 am |

Personally, I think it’s one of those things that loses its power when half the league starts doing it. As the next-of-kin to the Winnipeg Jets, I don’t have a problem with the Yotes continuing the white-out tradition. But when everybody from the Miami Heat to the Chicago White Sox has done it (or a variation thereof), it just seems kind of lame to me.

On a side note, I think the worst offender was the Chicago Bears, who a couple years ago encouraged fans to wear orange to a designated home game in a transparent attempt to get people to buy the orange alternate jersey and other orange merch. I wore navy to the game just so I could sleep at night.

SimulatedSteve|
April 20, 2011 at 10:40 am |

For the vast majority of the NHL’s existence the Home teams has worn colors at home. Aside from the period 1970 – 2003 were white at home was the rule. So it’s NOT tradition to wear white at home…sorry this always drives me bonkers.

I do agree the switch has lots to do with marketing of the 3rd jersey and also making it easier for road teams to travel with only 1 set of uni’s.

However, I know the Blackhawks have worn the Alt on the road 2-3 times this year and even wore white at home for a game as well. So the Alts are exculsive to home games, so it can’t be all the blame.

Craig D|
April 20, 2011 at 11:10 am |

“so, like freedom, t-shirts aren’t free”

Tell that to Mike Leake :-|

Rob S|
April 20, 2011 at 11:30 am |

I guess it depends on how you define tradition; I see it as “what I grew up with”, which would be white-at-home in this case.

And as an NHL rule, white-at-home actually has the longer history – 37 seasons (1951-1955, 1970-2003) compared to 22 seasons for dark-at-home (1955-1970, 2003-present and not counting the lockout). Prior to 1951, there was no such rule in place, with the only mandate being to avoid identical-colored sweaters in the same game. The Bruins, Maple Leafs, and Red Wings have been known to wear white at home in this era in an inconsistent manner.

The Jeff|
April 20, 2011 at 11:41 am |

The mandate of avoiding identical colored jerseys is the only rule that should need to exist. There’s no reason the league should dictate anything beyond that.

KT|
April 20, 2011 at 11:50 am |

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did “Orange Sunday” in 1979 – well before marketing third jerseys (indeed, before marketing jerseys for sale at all) was a big deal.

Rob S|
April 20, 2011 at 12:52 pm |

I just realized that “have… in this era” sounds like I’m talking about those teams in the present day, but I was referring to their wearing white at home from time to time in the pre-1951 era. Hopefully I didn’t confuse anybody there…

timmy b|
April 20, 2011 at 2:37 pm |

I still need to put a * by the 1970-2003 era of white at home in the NHL. In the 1991-92 season, from the all-star break tthru the end of the regular season, teams wore dark at home.

And, the Bruins wore white for all games, home and away in the 1966-67 season (they may have in 65-66, too, but I have to check that out).

Rob S|
April 20, 2011 at 3:14 pm |

Was that for all teams in 91-92? I guess I didn’t recall it because I was busy trying to complete my senior year in high school, and ended up not following any games (except occasionally on radio) in the second half until the playoffs. I was a fan, but didn’t truly find my passion for the game until that playoff season.

BurghFan|
April 20, 2011 at 6:44 pm |

It was the case for the second half of 91-92, with the possible exception of Original Six teams wearing throwbacks on the road. I know I saw a couple of games in Pittsburgh with the visitors in white. The last time I’d seen that was when the Pens debuted the black and gold in 1980.

In regards to the picture of Charlie Davies wearing a TechFit jersey. Any player with a team that is an Adidas team can use the TechFit jersey. It’s not uncommon to see some in it and some not in it.

Anthony B.|
April 20, 2011 at 11:35 am |

Last year Adidas designated certain MLS teams as “TechFit Teams;” I know that included DC and perhaps LA (?) and maybe Chicago (???). I’m not sure that every team in the MLS has TechFit available–I’ve never noticed a Dynamo player wearing one. That, obviously, could just be that no one wants to wear TechFit when it’s 100 degrees with 99% humidity, but who knows?
Just found a link: http://www.soccerfanatic.com/blog/new-soccer-gear/2010-adidas-mls-techfit-jerseys/

KT|
April 20, 2011 at 11:51 am |

Every MLS team is an adidas team, as adias outfits the entire league.

Brian McBride did wear the TechFit when he was with Chicago.

Craig D|
April 20, 2011 at 8:43 am |

Re: The Giants 2010 Wild Card shirts. I remember after the Browns lost that “the Drive” game in ’86(sigh) I found a Cleveland Browns 1986 AFC Champions sweatshirt at some discount store. It was in Dayton, Oh….not a third world country. Of course I bought it. I wish I still had it. But then I was 16 and it would look a little silly on me now.

I smile as I read this wearing my 2003 Cubs / Wrigley Field World Series t-shirt.

RS Rogers|
April 20, 2011 at 8:44 am |

The Washington Post‘s free commuter tabloid on Tuesday printed this WaPo story but with a montage of posed player portraits instead of an action shot. Two of the five pitchers shown were close-up enough to differentiate the cap logo, and both were wearing red home caps with the new curly-W logo, not the old. So at least some equipment with the right logo has been manufactured and issued to players (along with plenty of equipment, including jerseys, with the wrong logo).

Comrade Marshall, if you’re reading today, I finally put those Traxel ‘rups to their intended use on this morning’s ride.

moose|
April 20, 2011 at 10:37 am |

beeeeautiful, and a nice shot. your bike puts my 40lbs of chicago steel 1972 schwinn varsity to shame. my tank was great in the windy for taking on rough pavement, but on the hills around here, holy mother of corn do i need something at least circa 1992.

by the way, i had a little delay and didn’t get what i thought i was going to done thurs-sunday, but i will be shipping any day now, and you can have the rawhide for that ride to work.

yup, everyone who didn’t have a custom head, those will go out next week. some have been done for 2/3 weeks, scott’s was the first finished. yours is one that is finishing today, been trying to figure that sleeve patch thing,it is finished otherwise, but it’s driving me nuts. once i finish a couple little odds and ends like signing and clear coating, it is a nice overcast day for pictures, and then movies and mail hopefully tomorrow. but if i don’t get all the videos done, i will mail thursday. one way or another everything mails this week. i will be sending a group email that has pixtures/tracking info for all of them, so everyone can see what each person requested, i am quite proud of this batch. i might have given a discount, but that didn’t stop me from trying to make each one beter then the next. i have had a couple local artist friends/non sports fans come over in the last week or so, and i thought their heads were going to explode, so hopefully everyone who got one will have their brain-pans do the same. okay, back to it.

Wait, mine was finished first, and you were making each one better than the last? That means mine will be the worst one. Crap! ;-)

Looking forward to the Rawhide stirrups, too. I suspect they’ll be perfect for the diabetes-fundraiser metric half-century I’m riding in June. (If not, it’ll be between the 1931 Dodgers and those red-white-black Blackhawks ‘rups.)

oops. what i mean is i try to make each one the best i can, that i never stop looking to improve them. but if i figured something out in a batch, i go back and treat them all that way. naw, who am i kidding, your sucks.

ClubMedSux|
April 20, 2011 at 3:24 pm |

Wait, mine was finished first, and you were making each one better than the last? That means mine will be the worst one. Crap! ;-)

That’s why I waited so long to pay for mine. Yeah… that’s the reason.

moose|
April 20, 2011 at 3:45 pm |

i am painting the clinchers now. i made a special trip to an antique mall to buy two marbles because they were the right size to replace the baseballs i carved off. your old man is done except the ball, which is going to be a pain because his head is on already(d’oh). your buddy is easier because his head isn’t on because i just finished his jersey last night. could there be any more detail on that? oh yeah, the sf seals. the seals is one i finished right behind the rhubarbs because that one had details out the ying-yang. okay, back to it.

ClubMedSux|
April 20, 2011 at 3:57 pm |

I was gonna say things would’ve been easier if I had designed our team’s shirts, but I’m not sure if the new jerseys we’re getting this year (which will feature this logo) would be much easier.

And of course your hard work is appreciated… Picking up the marbles is going beyond the call of duty!

moose|
April 20, 2011 at 4:51 pm |

gaaaaaaaar! yeah, that would be hard to paint, but a fun challenge. the tough part was getting “briddle & reath” on one line, took me 4 tries to get it right. images are easy, if i get the feel right it works, text is the bear. i shouldn’t say that, the old bills helmet logo was tough, and doing it twice and getting them both to look the same, near impossible. woof. okay, i just finished the clinchers, and they even have the clincher logo painted in about a 1/8″ square. that leaves the los futbol patch, and the head attach for briddle and los futbol. i am going to get gassed gassed gassed when these are done.

JRJR|
April 20, 2011 at 8:54 am |

I think you mean “Ding Dong CARTS”, not cats.

Anyhow, I was wondering last night what we think of tshirts Nike makes that are essentially just a giant swoosh with the word Nike. That can’t be logo creep, right? Just straight up advertising. They gave my rowing club a box, hoping we would buy jackets and stuff and they are really nice tshirts. Just happen to have Nike emblazoned on em…

Rob S|
April 20, 2011 at 9:29 am |

It’ll be interesting to see what throwback the Tigers use for their Dodgers game… at first, I was confused, but then I realized I was thinking of the home uniform (which, aside from a one-year scripted “Tigers” experiment, has been virtually unchanged for several decades). The road unis, of course, have changed a number of times.

I doubt that they’d use something as modern as their 80s pullover, so they’ll probably be replicating one of their earlier World Series teams, either 1935 (nice placket) or 1945 (with the HEALTH patch).

I think the Sounders jerseys just have the Techfit striping pattern. It looks like players can choose to have either Techfit or “loose” jerseys.

urbanleftbehind|
April 20, 2011 at 10:19 am |

I would think the Dodgers would slow it down a bit with the Thursday Half-Price and Throwback (Blue Jersey) fest, after the Stow incident. Why not just call it Sureno Get Away Day?

ClubMedSux|
April 20, 2011 at 10:19 am |

Please tell me that Wolfsburg really included the infamous wolves-howling-at-the-moon t-shirt as one of their eight finalists for their howlin’ wolf jersey. If so, I tip my hat to their management for showing a sense of humor that’s hard to find in professional sports these days.

Yeah, that would be it. It’s shown as one of the eight finalists on the article to which Paul linked in the ticker.

DanKing9|
April 20, 2011 at 11:39 am |

One of the things I’ve noticed in my limited experiences with the Bundesliga is that the management seems to not take themselves as seriously as other leagues and sports, Bayern Munich excluded. Hence St. Pauli having a hot dog train and seats with a mini keg underneath. Then again 51% of the team has to be owned by the fans so that might have something to do with it.

Bernard|
April 20, 2011 at 10:22 am |

If these are Oklahoma State’s new unis, then I’m a fan. I’m loving the gray, even if it is GFGS. I’ve also enjoyed Oregon’s introduction of gray, but hopefully gray is not the new black.

If the top hat logo was created in 1936, why did the Yankees wait ten years to use it?

She’s not the first to make this claim – two years ago the family of artist Sam Friedman made a similar claim. Friedman was “an artist employed at “21â€³ during the ’40s and ’50s, a time when Dan Topping, a co-owner of the Yankees, was a regular patron.”

Personally, I think the strongest evidence for Keller’s ownership comes from the fact that he first created a prototype version before the refined version saw print. Unless they’re claiming credit for that one as well.

Das glaube ich nicht. The graphic accompanying the article shows both the green jersey with the wolf silhouette (which is the one that actually won) and this infamous design as two different finalists. And if you look at the graphic closely, it looks like they literally pasted the picture of the t-shirt from Amazon as opposed to putting the design on a real soccer jersey.

Yes, there is the argument that it’s not traditional because white was the home color only from 1970-2003, but how about they do it because it JUST MAKES FREAKIN’ SENSE?

As a young Uni-freak attending home Islander and Ranger games in the early 70’s, half the fun was seeing the parade of colorful unis on the visiting teams.

When the home team wears colors, all you see are the same white jerseys, game after game, from the visitors. Bah.

-Jet

Lloyd Davis|
April 20, 2011 at 2:36 pm |

The compromise is clear: do what they do in the Ontario Hockey League (major junior), and wear white at home for half the season, on the road for the other half.

timmy b|
April 20, 2011 at 2:40 pm |

Just like they (NHL) did in 1991-92. :)

Rob S|
April 20, 2011 at 3:18 pm |

And the IHL did for a while.

*crickets*

Rob S|
April 20, 2011 at 3:55 pm |

To sum up my post way up above (and expand on a couple of things):

White was home from 1951-1955 as well as 1970-2003.

The Boston Bruins wore white exclusively from 1932-1940 and 1944-1948, with a gold “alternate” in 1940-1944 – this is aside from going mostly white in 1966-1967.

When most teams had just one sweater, these teams were predominantly white:
Montreal Wanderers 1917-1918
Toronto St. Patricks 1922-1925
Chicago Black Hawks 1926-1927
Detroit Cougars/Falcons 1926-1932
New York/Brooklyn Americans 1938-1942

And Toronto and Detroit did, on occasion, wear white at hiome in non-clash scenarios prior to 1951-52.

So, yeah, “dark at home” in the NHL really doesn’t ring as “traditional” with me.

Besides, we all know the real reason they switched in 2003 – third jerseys (and boosting dark jersey sales in general).

Jeff P|
April 21, 2011 at 12:03 am |

From a logistics standpoint, it makes no sense. It forces teams to carry both sets of unis on the road, since very few teams have white thirds. Which is a pain in the ass for equipment guys, raises costs for travel, so on and so forth. And fans have always liked the colored jerseys better, if sales are any indications- something the switch to color at home barely affected.

Robby|
April 20, 2011 at 11:27 am |

In regards to the Auburn pants. If you scroll down to the three extra screen shots, not only do you see the revised striping, but that it is on BLUE pants. Could Auburn be introducing blue pants this year???

kyle.|
April 20, 2011 at 11:33 am |

there was a san francisco cycling jersey in an entry last week some time. i’ve found a site selling jerseys for all mlb (which look okay), nba (which look pretty weird to me), and nhl teams (i am indifferent towards hockey).

Only one really off for the NHL that I noticed was the Flyers- they’re using the old black as a model, which is a crying shame they didn’t get the blues or stars right either, but those both were vastly improved from the real thing.

PB|
April 20, 2011 at 11:48 am |

I have been looking for a 1980s style Braves HOME jersey for a while now (white pullover, with ‘Braves’ in script across the chest, to no avail. Majestic sells a throwback 1980s style AWAY jersey (powder blue), but not none in white. Any ideas on where I can find the white throwback?

1. No one says you have to wear polyester, or spend $200. In Pittsburgh, they are selling special shirts with proceeds going towards baseline testing for concussions that the Pens are doing for area youth hockey players. There’s also plenty of other white team apparel in the form of t-shirts and sweatshirts that’s much less than buying a team jersey.

2. I’m kind of done with this “home teams don’t wear white” line. I can see if you’re the Flyers or Capitals and you have a bright color like orange or red, but a Penguins’ in black shirts….well, you have that most of the season and it’s not remarkable. The white pops off, it’s great.

I say this as someone that is firmly in the “I think home teams should go back to wearing white/yellow at home” camp too.

Brian C|
April 20, 2011 at 12:34 pm |

“I’m a season seat holder for the Edmonton Oil Kings, and I just received an invitation to fill out an online survey,”

I approve! It’s nice to see a clean, classy design and not somethking designed by a marketing committee to sell crap to 12 year olds.

Today is the last day to bid/buy on the white Minnesota Gophers football helmets that brought them so little success last season: http://tinyurl.com/3foo79w

duker|
April 20, 2011 at 1:01 pm |

The Orioles wore their black jerseys and O’s caps last night. (Also note Vladi wearing high socks!) Typically the black jerseys only show up on Fridays. But last Friday was Jackie Day and the O’s wore 42’s on their roads. I’m guessing they wore them for good luck to break their 0-8 skid.

Max|
April 20, 2011 at 11:33 pm |

Same situation tonight as well. If it was to break the streak, it seems to have worked

JenInChicago|
April 20, 2011 at 1:03 pm |

Logo creep – at Disney World….

It might have all been started by a mouse, but it is sponsored by Stanley….

No, more that silk weaves really tightly and has a tensile-strength-to-cross-section ratio similar to mild steel, so it has more or less the same protection against slashing attacks as kevlar when doubleknit.

War arrows usually have barbed heads so they’re impossible to remove from a wound without cutting them out.

Note that the new Marine Corps under armor is not made by UnderArmour, but rather by a British company, because apparently UA and Nike and other American makers of “performance fabrics” are too busy saluting the troops and proing the combat and whatnot to figure out how to make ultralight bulletproof silk cloth to protect actual soldiers from shrapnel wounds.

More likely that they lost the bid or don’t have the facilities to make that material. It’s even possible it’s proprietary to the British firm. The manufacturer doesn’t exist that wouldn’t try to get a military contract. They’re too lucrative.

Sorry for waiting until late afternoon (EDT), but a decision has just been rendered by the President’s Advisory Council on Chromatic Disorders regarding the heated controversy over the nature of the color Crimson.

I quote from the official report: “… Crimson is that color designated as 28-1-7 C on the universal Pantone GoeGuide. Its components are Pantone “Strong Red” (69.81%) and Pantone “Bright Red” (30.19%). Its RGB numbers are 206-0-69.”

The report notes that the final value of Crimson closely approximates a midway point between the values of “Harvard Crimson” and “Utah Crimson,” a Solomonic rendering probably calculated to bank the fires of what had become a passionate debate between Cambridge and Provo. Another Crimson candidate, “OU Crimson,” nominated by the University of Oklahoma, was characterized by the panel as being “without merit in either history or aesthetics…”

For those of you that liked Sunday’s NBA tweaks, I’ve updated my Basketball Concepts page with all those unis. If you so choose, you can now go there and grab copies of those concepts at a much higher resolution.

The thing about the number on the front of the Pittsburgh Hornets jersey is that it doesn’t have a sleeve number 3 inches away from it like today’s Sabres, Sharks, etc.

BurghFan|
April 20, 2011 at 7:03 pm |

Always nice to see former Hornets player-coach Vic Stasiuk.

Gusto44|
April 20, 2011 at 8:50 pm |

It would be appropriate if the Penguins wore a throwback Hornets uniform at some point in the future, although it would be strange to see the Pens in red.

LarryB|
April 20, 2011 at 9:52 pm |

That Hornets uniform is sharp. I wonder if the Penguins would ever consider it as a TB or at least to honor the Hornets.

BurghFan|
April 20, 2011 at 10:49 pm |

In 2001 and 2002, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton played games at the Igloo in Hornets jerseys. (They were the Red Wings blanks that the Hornets used at the end of their tenure, not the ones in the Stasiuk photo.)

JRD|
April 20, 2011 at 8:46 pm |

The Chicago Cougars of the WHA wore the numbers of the front of their jerseys also, back in the early 1970s.

I, too, am a Hersey High School alum. What a (cruel) treat to be reminded of my high school’s unfortunate fashion choices in today’s ticker. But that’s what you get when you let students in the 70’s choose their own school colors (primary brown, secondary orange.)

I was always fiercely proud of my school… and just as embarrassed when wearing its uniforms.

As A John Hersey graduate, I loved my school, but I could not bring myself to wear anything from my school because of the horrid school colors (turd brown and puke orange). As for the Jersey, I do recall it still being used when I was enrolled in the mid-eighties. I could be wrong, but I believe these jerseys actually pre-dated the White Sox beach blanket jersey that resulted from this contest.

Marjorie|
April 21, 2011 at 1:15 pm |

As another Hersey alum I liked the orange and brown. It made us unique. That jersey may have been from the early 80s but it was the boys freshmen B team jersey when I was there in the mid-to-late 90s.